#phantasmapurple9

Helanded in an alley right next to the house, making sure that no onewas around to see him. Then he morphed back into human form, becomingtangible again as well.

Thelast few steps back to his house were rushed, and Danny slammed thedoor shut the moment he stepped through. He grinned to himself,pleased to have mostly avoided the rain. Besides, it’s not likeanyone would’ve noticed, anyway. Jazz already knew about his ghostpowers, and his parents were always down in the lab.

Acrash came from the kitchen,and Danny pushed off of the door to check it out. He barely made ittwo steps into the living room when his dad emerged, however.

Theman was dressed in an eye-searingly orange jumpsuit as usual. Lessusual were the soot stains all over his clothing and face. Stillprettyusual for Jack Fenton, though.

BeforeDanny could make his escape, Jack spotted him. He grinned, waving athis son. “Hey Danny-boy! Made it home safe, I see.”

“Uh,yeah,” Dannystammered out in answer, inching towards the stairs. He was prettysure he could scoot by his dad without the man noticing-

Andthen his escape was cut off by his mom, who also walked out of thekitchen. She was similarly stained with soot, although less so thanhis dad.

BeforeDanny could escape from herpath too, his mom had stuck out a hand and ruffled his hair. Maybeshe wouldn’t notice?

Nope,she definitely noticed. She pulled back her hand and frowned. Dannywasn’t sure if it was at him.

“I,uh, better get dried off,” he tried with a wan smile. He vaguelypointed to the stairs, hoping to make his escape. He was alreadytrying to think of an excuse, but none stood out to him. The onlything he could think of was that he caught a ride, but none of hisfriends had licenses (or cars). And while he could’ve,theoretically, caught a ride with Jazz, she would’ve come home withhim.

“Holdon.” His mom grabbed him by the upper arm, frown deepening as shenoticed that his hoodie was mostly dry as well. Shereleased him almost immediately, but the damage had already beendone.

Hisdad had apparently noticed as well, since the man lumbered closer aswell. “Danny, you’re barely wet.”

Uh oh. Should’vethought ahead a little better, Fenton.And he still didn’t have an excuse, either. “Wow, really? It…felt a lot worse?” Bad. Bad attempt. They’re never gonna fall forthat.

Andthey very clearly didn’t, frowning at him with suspicion. Whoops.

“Danny,”his mom said, tone chastising. She sounded a lot like Jazz wheneverhe came home with serious injuries, insisting he didn’t need help.The family resemblance was kind of scary, really. “Explain.”

“I,uh. Can’t.” He shrugged, a sheepish expression his face. And hecouldn’t, really. He had no excuses, and it wasn’t like he couldtell them the truth. Yeah,so I kind of flew home intangible so I wouldn’t get wet.Like his parents would fall for that.

“Whynot?” his dad asked, one of his huge hands landing on Danny’sshoulders. He was sure that it was meant to be comforting, but to himit just felt like he was getting pinned down. His expression wasdifficult to make out, uncertain and hurt and who knew what else.

“Ijust can’t,” he bit out, attempting to wriggle out of his dad’sgrasp.In turn, the fingers dug in just a little deeper. He was vaguelyaware of the fact that he was overreacting, panicking-

Hismom stepped forward and Danny flinched back, flickering intangible toget out of the pinning grip.

Everyonefroze.

For afew moments, nothing happened. Everyone stood still in shock overwhat just happened. Danny was breathing heavily, trying to stamp downhis panic. It was too late. The damage was done. Now he needed tofocus to guide it to safer grounds.

“Well,”his dad said, voice wavering and uncertain, the usual blusterlacking. “I guess that that explains how you got home so dry.”

Dannyflinched back another step. He couldn’t quite read the expressionson his parents’ faces, but he wasn’t sure that he wantedto.

“Buthow?” his mom queried, frowning. Her voice was quiet, but in thesilence of their living room, it was perfectly audible. “A humancan’t use ghost powers, but a ghost… a ghost can’t grow.” Oreat, or breathe, or any of the things Danny did regularly. Or so hisparents thought. They didn’t need to know that many ghosts coulddo those things, but just chosenot to.

Dannylooked away, wrapping his arms around himself. He had consideredtelling his parents many times, but he always… he always planned onhaving backup. Sam, Tucker… Jazz, at least. But now… Now he wasalone.

“Unlesshe’s both, somehow.” Jack was frowning too, now. But hisexpression was more one of thought, rather than the anger Danny hadbeen expecting. “Are you, Danny-boy?”

Thenickname caught his attention, and he looked back at his parents.“Huh?” he asked, a little stupidly.

“You’renot ghost orhuman, are you?” His dad’s gaze was expectant, but…surprisingly supportive.

“Uh,no.” Danny grimaced, but let his arms hang by his sides again.“I’m… 50/50. A halfa, the ghosts call me.”

“Incredible,”his mom whispered, eyes growing wide. She stepped forward but stoppedwhen she saw Danny flinch away again. “It defies all science…”And then the implications struck her, and she gasped. “But how…?”

Heshrugged, loosely. “The, uh. The accident with the Portal, infreshman year.” Thenhis eyes grew wide, and he raised his hands up in a calming gesture.“But it’s not your fault! Iwent to check it out, Iwas an idiot. Igot myself hurt.”

“Andthat’s why you’re supposed to wear a hazmat suit in the lab,sweetie.” His mom was now slowly approaching him, hoping not tostartle him into flinching away again. Hertone was chastising, but soft. Kind.

“ButI did,”Danny mumbled quietly. Not quiet enough, apparently, based on thequirked eyebrow his mom gave him.

“Whatdid you say, honey?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

Even in the darknessof the park, with no streetlights nearby, he could see threats comingfrom miles away. Thanks, ghostly senses. Where would he be withoutthem?

Probably not in thepark, alone, at midnight. Hell, he had phased through the closedgates to even get here in the first place.

He wasn’t sure whyhe had come here, anyway. He had better things to do with his timethan lie here in the park. Homework, sabotaging his parents’inventions, sleep… Yeah, sleep for sure.

But no, here he was.Sitting all alone in the park. At midnight.

Danny groaned,falling onto his back with his arms spread wide. The grass tickledthe back of his neck and his bare arms, but he didn’t mind.

He knew when he hadbeen here last time. Before all the ghosts had started showing up,when his life went completely down the drain.

It had been thishill where he had sat with Sam and Tucker, days after the accident.Before he had even known what,exactly, had happened to him.

And now, here hewas. Amity Park’s Protector, the great Danny Phantom. The GreatOne, Pariah’s Bane. One of the most powerful ghosts known tomankind.

Oh, if only they hadseen him back then. Only the most basic abilities, and barely incontrol of them as well.

Yeah, much hadchanged since then. But not everything.

No, in quiet momentslike these, he still felt like had back then. Displaced. Like he hadbeen knocked out of alignment and couldn’t quite straighten himselfagain.

Like his spot inlife had been bent irreversibly, and now he didn’t fit in anymore.

Or, more likely, itwas him that had beendamaged. No longer truly part of the living, right? So it made sensethat he couldn’t slot back in.

Even when he waswithout his powers… The experience had changed him, and he wouldnever be truly alive again.

He didn’t knowmuch about the exact events of Dan’s formation, only enough toavoid it. And he definitely didn’t know what had happened to theseparated human half.

But he was sure thathe wouldn’t havefitted in either.

And, well. If he wasknocked out of line regardless of what he did, if he couldn’t bendhimself back in the right shape.  Then he should make the most out ofthe circumstances, right?

Shejust… had to go and dothis.Get over her nerves and approach the boy she was crushing on.

Itwasn’t like he didn’t like her back! She knewhedoes, or did,at least. They had dated, after all. Only, she had broken up withhim. Had been too afraid of him getting hurt because of her ghosthunting. Hadn’t known how she could keep him safe.

Soshe had stepped away, had left him. Had watched from the sidelinesinstead, for months. But her crush hadn’t died down, not in theslightest.

AndDanny… He hadn’t shied away from her, either. He had been sad, ofcourse. Had been heartbroken. But he still hung out with her. Stillremained friends with her, despite everything.

Andthat didn’t make it any easier on her. Because she wantedthis,so badly. But she wouldn’t let herself date him, date anyone,if she couldn’t protect them.

So,when her crush stubbornlyrefused to die down… She instead settled down for some research.Combed through any and all literature about ghosts and ectoplasmicentities she could find. Spend hours- days- weeks-looking for ways to keep Danny safe, without having to rely on herghost hunting equipment. Because she couldn’t always protect him,not directly.

And,finally, she had found something. An obscure flower, little known andnigh extinct. A relative of the rose which apparently deterredsupernatural creatures, especially ghosts.

Ithadn’t been easy to acquire some. She had managed to track down aghost enthusiast who was willing to sell her a few seeds, but shehadn’t had the money to pay for them. Instead she managed to talkthe enthusiast into a trade, swapping information on ghosts forinformation on the flowers.

Witha bond of trust thus established, she asked them if there wasanything she could trade for the flowers themselves. The enthusiasthad remained quiet for a long while, and Valerie had grown worriedabout losing her only shot.

Untilthe enthusiast had messaged her back, saying that they would trade asmany seeds as she needed for a ghost. A real-lifeghost.

Andreally, she shouldn’t have done it. Who knows what kind of damagethe ghost could’ve done in the hands of an enthusiast who likelydidn’t even own any kind of weaponry.

But,she couldn’t let this chance pass her by.

Soshe had captured the weakest ghost she had ever come across. Asickly-looking ectopus which could barely stay afloat, and whichdidn’t even put up a fight. And then she duct-taped the thermosshut, and had mailed it off to the enthusiast.

Shehadn’t considered how difficult it would be to actually growtheflowers, unfortunately. Even with all the information the enthusiasthad provided, it had been quite tricky. The roses were finicky, andit took her several months before she got the hang of growing them.

But,she had succeeded. And now here she stood, with a bouquet of a few ofthe fully-grown flowers in full blossom.

Andshe had to admit that the flowers were kinda pretty. The blossomingpetals were incredibly similar to the roses they were related to, adeep red reminiscent of blood. The stems and leaves were a littlemore unique, a deep black which revealed itself to a be a deep purplein the right light.

Takinga deep breath, Valerie straightened out her spine and pushed hershoulders back. Then she summoned every last scrap of confidence andbravery she felt, and stepped towards Danny. She made sure to keepthe bouquet behind her back, lest she ruin the surprise.

Theboy heard her approaching and whirled around, a large smile on hisface.

“HeyVal, what’s up?”

Shesmiled back, resisting the urge to ball her fists to relieve heranxiety. “Hey Danny. I, uh… I have something for you.”

“Youdo?” he asked, curiosity peaked. His eyes were big and sparkly and-Valeriestop letting yourself get distracted darnit.

“Uh,yeah,” she stammered, before remembering that she still had thebouquet hidden behind her back. She blushed, then shoved it roughlyinto Danny’s chest. “Here,” she bit out asshe did so.

Dannyhad automatically grabbed the flowers, but dropped them as suddenlyas he had received them. He flinched, backing away from the bushel ofroses lying on the floor. He frowned at them, and then at her. Shewasn’t sure what to think of his expression, the cocktail ofemotions playing on his face too complicated for her to decipher.

Ofall the ways she thought this could’ve gone wrong, this wasn’tone she had considered. She didn’t know what to think, how toreact.

“Thoseare...” Danny started, but he trailed off before lapsing intosilence.

“BloodBlossoms,” Valerie finished for him instead. Danny nodded, stillfrowning. “They were… supposed to be a gift. To make up for thebreakup.” Andto start their relationship anew, but she didn’t dare to say that.Not with how he had reacted.

“Oh.”Danny started tolookincreasingly distraught. “I- Thanks. I appreciate the gesture.”But he didn’t move to pick them up.Just stared at them. “Where’d you get them, anyway?”

“Uh.That’s… complicated?” She wasn’t sure how to explain, and shewasn’t sure why he cared, either. Did he… have something againstBlood Blossoms? Was it because of his family? “Do you not… likethem?” She tried not to sound hurt, but she was sure he could tellregardless.His face was an open book.

“I-No, sorry. It’s, um.” He made a face, then started to rub theback of his neck. A gesture of nerves, one she easily recognized.“I’m kind of… allergic. Sorry.”

“Oh.Sorry, I didn’t… didn’t know.” She hadn’t thought that itwas even possibleforhumans to be allergic to Blood Blossoms. She thought they only hurtghosts!

“Youcouldn’t have known,” Danny reassured her, smiling awkwardly.“It’s fine. I appreciate the gesture.”

Shereached for the fallen bouquet, kicking it further away from her andDanny. “Still, I should’ve asked. Could’ve saved both of us alot of trouble, huh?”

“Yeah,”Danny laughed. “I hope you didn’t go through too much trouble toget those.”